


is this the way to exit my youth?

by afromaniiac



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fuck gabe ugliano my homies and i hate gabe ugliano, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Past Child Abuse, Percy doesn’t like alcohol, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Threats of Violence, minor mention of csa threats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afromaniiac/pseuds/afromaniiac
Summary: Percy gets a bottle of vodka for his birthday. He isn’t a fan. He and Annabeth talk about it.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 223





	is this the way to exit my youth?

**Author's Note:**

> TW for mentions of past child abuse, homophobic and ableist slurs, minor threats of CSA, and alcoholism mentions.

August 19. It was just after Percy’s birthday. Not only that, but the two year anniversary of the end of the Titan War. He just turned eighteen and to celebrate that they had held a small party in his cabin.

The party started normal in Annabeth’s opinion. However, as a gift, Travis, Connor, and Pollux had decided to pitch in and get Percy a not so legal beverage.

_“Hey man,”_ Connor had said when Percy unwrapped it. He had slapped a hand over Percy’s shoulder and grinned widely. _“We get a pass. You worked hard and plus—who the fuck even knows if we reach twenty one anyway, right?”_

Percy had managed a smile at the time, but Annabeth could tell it was actually a grimace.

And that’s what had her at his side at that moment. Percy was eyeing the label of the bottle, his green eyes glazed with something Annabeth couldn’t read completely, but it didn’t take a genius to understand something was wrong.

“Are you here to lecture me about leaving my party early?” Percy asked finally. He was wrapped up in a sea blue sweatshirt, tufts of wavy black hair poking out of the hood covering his head.

“No,” Annabeth frowned, moving to his side and sitting on the wooden steps beside him. She pulled her legs up, resting her arms on her knees the same way Percy was. She turned her head, getting a better glimpse of his face. “I was just worried. I know how you feel about alcohol.”

Percy shrugged and glanced at the bottle of vodka in his hand. The glazed look was still on his face and it made Annabeth nervous.

“Percy,” She said softly, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “Can I see?”

Percy didn’t answer for a second. She found herself growing more worried until he finally passed the unopened bottle to her. She let her eyes skim over the label, not paying too much mind in what it really said and instead setting it aside. She rested her head on his shoulder and held her hands out for him. Thankfully, he was immediately taking them and resting his head on top of hers. He sighed softly, green eyes closing.

“...Are you okay?” She asked finally. She recounted the many times he had been there for her as she gently ran her thumb over his hand. The same way he would for her.

She could feel the way he smiled against her hair. “I’m okay,” He murmured. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

Normally, Annabeth would’ve teased him about it. Percy would’ve grinned, throwing back a witty retort right back at her.

That’s the old them. The before Tartarus them. Nowadays, every time Percy mentioned he had a lot on his mind, Annabeth couldn’t help but worry a bit. She knew the type of thoughts that could linger around for too long.

She let out a breath through her nose. So much for not lecturing him. She almost felt bad for what she was about to drop on him.

“Look, I love you and I know you’re so much smarter than a lot of people give you credit for,” Annabeth began. “Shit, even me. But if you’re considering what I think you are—“

Percy gave her hand a squeeze and pulled away, turning to face her. He sighed, brushing some of his hair out of his face and tucking it into the hood. Little tufts of black hair stuck out from the sides though, and Annabeth had to brush off  _ the gods, he’s still cute _thoughts.

“No, I’m not. I promise I’m not like...I’m not even interested in drinking my feelings away.”

Annabeth nodded slowly. She held no doubt in her heart. She turned away, watching the moon over the beach and resting her head on his shoulder again. “Okay. I believe you.”

Percy nodded as well. He turned to face the same way as well, the sound of the summer night engulfing them. The only thing that kept them company was the sound of the waves and crickets. It was a few minutes before Percy spoke again.

“Do you remember when we were twelve?” Percy asked softly. “The quest to get the lightning bolt back.”

Annabeth smiled fondly. It was weird to look back on. At the time, the quest was full of stress and uncertainty. Now that it was in the past, it was nostalgic. “Yeah, of course.”

Percy didn’t have the same look on his face. He looked tired, dark eyebrows knit together and the corners of his lips tugged downwards into a frown. “And my asshole of a stepdad at the time?”

Annabeth’s own frown grew. Percy wasn’t really vocal about the guy. Sally had mentioned a few things about him when she had asked, grimacing and granting her a sad smile.

_Sometimes, we make big sacrifices to protect the people we love,_ Sally had explained sadly. _I thought this sacrifice would hurt him less, but it still hurt him, and I can’t really forgive myself for it._

“Gabe, right?” Annabeth questioned softly. She had her own experience with shitty parenting. Her father came back around though, and so did her stepmom. It didn’t mean she didn’t understand the feeling though. The way Sally spoke, however, made Annabeth believe that maybe she was lucky her stepmom merely bruised her with words.

“Yeah, Gabe,” Percy spoke bitterly, like he had poison on his tongue. “...He was a fucking dick.”

“...Your mom mentioned some things about him,” Annabeth said. “Said he smelled awful, looked like Donald Trump,” She added, wanting to cheer him up.

That didn’t get a smile out of Percy like Annabeth hoped. He kept his eyes lowered, the frown still on his face.

“Percy,” Annabeth’s concern grew. She knew his mental health wasn’t the greatest recently, especially with everything that had happened to them. He had been seeing a therapist, which was good, but that also meant revisiting topics and subjects that Percy probably kept down for years. “You can talk to me about anything. You know that.”

“I know,” Percy murmured. He closed his eyes and inhaled before speaking. “Gabe never really liked me, even when I was younger. He used to call me names, beat me black and blue any chance he could. When he was drunk, it was adding fuel to the fire.“

Percy smiled, but it held no humor. “He was drunk a lot.”

Annabeth’s heart twisted but she stayed quiet.

Percy curled in on himself a little more as he continued speaking, the smile fading. “He’d tell me all these things, how I was a useless brat who couldn’t do the simplest tasks. He started calling me a faggot when I came home with blue nail polish on, how I was nothing but a retarded waste of space that did nothing but burdened my mom.”

Annabeth scowled. Part of her got a little sad that Sally already took care of the bastard—she wanted to teach him a lesson of her own. “That’s so far from true.”

“Is it really though?” Percy questioned. “He was right—I was the whole reason she had to marry him in the first place. She put so much on the line for what? Just for me? He was an abusive asshole, but he wasn’t wrong.”

Percy shrugged apathetically and Annabeth felt awful for every single time she teased him.

She tucked two fingers under his chin, gently turning his face so he was facing her. “Listen to me, okay? You’re not what he said you are. You are an amazing son, an amazing friend, and an absolutely amazing boyfriend. We all know this. You were never the problem.”

Percy still looked sad but he smiled, taking her hand in both of his and pressing a kiss to it. “...I know,” He murmured.

She knew that Percy’s stepfather was far from kind to him, but for a second a scary possibility crossed Annabeth’s mind and she prayed that he wasn’t that awful. “Did Gabe ever... do anything else?”

“Do what? You mean like...” Percy faltered. He knew where she was going with this.

“Yeah.”

“No, he never did,” Percy reassured her immediately, shaking his head. “He made stupid threats about leaving me with some of his little buddies or whatever, but he never actually did anything.”

“That’s still fucking awful,” Annabeth said. If she wasn’t exhausted, she’d be enraged. Grab Nico and march down to the Underworld to give that monster a piece of her mind. “You were a kid.”

“Yeah. It was fucked up... but it’s over, so it doesn’t matter,” Percy said with a shrug.

The two of them sat in silence before Percy sniffled. He wiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. Annabeth wasn’t surprised to see his eyes starting to water, she felt her own doing the same thing.

Percy let out a laugh when he saw her face, quickly wiping the tears away faster. “I’m sorry, it’s stupid of me to be crying over that shit when it was all in the past.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s never stupid,” Annabeth promised to him, immediately holding her arms out for him. “C’mere, Seaweed Brain.”

Percy didn’t even hesitate. He went in for the hug, wrapping his arms around Annabeth and resting his head on her shoulder. Annabeth trailed a hand through his hair, pressing a kiss to his temple.

“...Thanks,” He murmured. “...I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for getting through! I honestly feel like percy definitely opened up to annabeth about his past situation, even though rick never really gave us that moment. i love their dynamic. And btw yes, the chapter title is from Treacherous Doctor by Wallows.


End file.
